


Cabin Fever

by robotguts



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bickering, Bonding, Established Relationship, F/M, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Innuendo, Light Angst, Team Infighting, Team as Family, Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 22:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11217312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robotguts/pseuds/robotguts
Summary: It doesn’t take any of them very long to realize what this year is going to look like.The new world their ship touches down on isn’t habitable, and there’s no getting around it.





	Cabin Fever

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place very soon after the voidfish planet. (Probably either the very next cycle or the one after that.)
> 
> Because the only thing better than being essentially trapped in a confined space is being trapped in a confined space with a couple whose still in their honeymoon phase, right?
> 
> (LupBarry isn't the focus of this fic but it's Definitely There.)  
> (Also, very mild spoiler warning for ep 65)

It doesn’t take any of them very long to realize what this year is going to look like.

The new world their ship touches down on isn’t habitable, and there’s no getting around it. There’s nothing living, no cities, no ruins even. The entire world seems to be made of crumbling red rock. Tall, wind-worn mountain ranges fall to unspeakably deep canyons with very little flat land in between. The landscape all seems to bleed together, everything in that same shade of deep, brick red, with few noticeable landmarks to keep track of.

The heat is unbearable, even under the cover of nightfall. During the day, they can hardly even open the ship’s door for fear of the blistering heat seeping inside. On their second night there, Lup is able to manage outside the Starblaster for long enough to figure out that the single source of water that Davenport could locate—a spring that bubbled up from somewhere deep underground—would have to be filtered heavily before it was safe to actually drink. It also, she mentioned once she’d handed the sample off to Barry, smelled terrible and metallic.

Just past dawn that next morning, the captain gathers the entire crew to the deck to discuss what their next move will be.

“I got about enough shelf-stable rations squirreled away around here to do us the whole year,” Taako announces with a shrug, once Davenport has made it clear that there seems to be no plants or animals on this entire world, “It’s sure as shit not going to be fun, though. Hope y’all like non-perishables.” There’s a low murmur of preemptive complaining for a few moments, before Davenport clears his throat and waits to regain their attention.

There’s an ever-so-slight edge of anger in the captain’s normally steady voice, “Alright, we’ve still got a while before the light falls. I might do another few passes around the planet to make sure we’re not missing anything, but if this is our only viable water source for this cycle we’ll have to stay fairly close. Let me go ahead and make this clear, though: Everyone stays on the ship. _Everyone_.” By the end of that sentiment, he’s staring directly at Magnus.

“Alright, yeah. Fine,” Magnus agrees, as he makes a mental note to see if he can get enough filtered water for Fisher’s tank. Even on the ship, the air was quickly becoming too dry for him to stay outside of it for long.

Lucretia sits on the floor of the deck with her journals propped up in her lap, half-heartedly taking down notes as Merle tries to peek at them over her shoulder. He’s far less subtle about it than he thinks he is, but she doesn’t actually seem to mind. She doodles a little diagram of Fisher in the margins of the page, worried for him like Magnus is. He’s still an infant, and an infant they only had the very vaguest idea how to care for.

“Great! Cool! Awesome! We done for now? ‘Cause if so, I’m going back to sleep.” Taako mumbles, rubbing at his tired eyes.

“Yeah, us too,” Lup says. She’s leaned against Barry’s shoulder, smiling softly as though nothing about this situation bothers her in the slightest. She’s had a paltry few hours of sleep since her journey outside the ship, but somehow she looks more awake than any of them, “We’ll definitely be sleeping. Mmmhmm.” Barry nods, very seriously, in agreement, adjusting his arm around her shoulder.

Lucretia mumbles that she’d also like to get some extra sleep, and stuffs her journals into the pockets of her robe.

“A nap sounds good to me,” Merle says.

Barry pipes up, “I’ll have a filtration system up soon. Shouldn’t take much doing, really. I can probably get a heat resistant suit together to make any necessary trips outside more… _survivable,_ too,” he tells them. Lup bumps her head against his shoulder gently and whispers something too low for the rest of the crew to hear. Barry, to his credit, only blushes a little, “Later, though. We’ve got plenty of clean water in storage for the time being.”

Davenport sighs, “Alright. If no one else has any other concerns,” he pauses for a moment, but is met with silence, “—then you’re all dismissed.”

As the rest of the crew files out, Davenport returns to his captain’s chair at the helm of the ship. He stared out the main window on the Starblaster, heat pouring through it even in the small amount of shade that he managed to find near the spring.

For a long while, he simply watches the sky—hoping he might see the light.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback would be really appreciated! Thank you!
> 
> Find me on-  
> Tumblr: @Robot-guts  
> Twitter: @r0botguts


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